International Journal of Industrial

Engineering & Technology (IJIET)

ISSN 2277-4769
Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mar 2013, 63-80
© TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

ADOPTING BEST PRACTICES IN BLOWN FILM EXTRUSION PROCESS: NEED OF THE

HOUR TO CONTROL ENVIRONMENTAL BURDENS

CHANDRAHAS D. GOLGHATE1 & MARUTI S. PAWAR2

1
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala, India
2
Professor, Mechanical Engineering, BMIT, Solapur, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT

Blown film extrusion is complex process. The practices are varying industry wide. This results in varied
consumption of raw material / energy, different throughput and product quality. Succinct analysis of blown film extrusion
process using ‘fishbone diagram’ reveals that, apart technology, production process is the main factor for variability in
process outcomes. Hence, benchmarking of extrusion process on global scale can be used for improving the performance.
Thus, best performance is set as benchmark for the performance of Indian plastic film manufacturing firms. Best practices
pertaining to blown film extrusion process are identified from the literature to achieve the benchmark targets. The best
practices are general in nature and while adopting naïve process should be considered by the adopting unit. Company level
best practices could be developed and practiced to achieve benchmark targets in future. The paper highlights these best
practices for comparison with existing practices and suitable changes to have definite improvements in the performance of
the unit.

KEYWORDS: Blown Film Extrusion Process, Fishbone Diagram, Best Practices and Benchmarking

INTRODUCTION

Blown film extrusion is one of the most commonly used thin gauge fabrication processes for manufacturing
plastic films in the world. The blown film extrusion process can produce magnificent arrays of products however; it is
facing operational and economic issues. In India, extrusion based methods account for 75 % of the total plastic processed,
out of which 27 % share is of blown films (Mutha et al., 2005). The huge demand in flexible packaging and other
application are fulfilled by plastic manufacturing industry. The majority of the commodity films such as grocery bags,
agricultural films and other flexible packaging films used by consumers are produced by this method. However, the blown
film extrusion system is one of the most complex and sensitive of all the plastics fabricating technologies and it presents
many inherent difficulties. In addition, the surging demand and its dynamics are exerting various challenges to sustain on
part of plastic manufacturing industry.

SWOT analysis done by Credit Rating and Information Services of India Ltd. (CRISIL) (2007) and Mandal
(2011) shows that plastic manufacturing industry is facing operational, economic and environmental issues. The
operational issues include low labor productivity, low scale of production, obsolete machinery, and strong processing
industries in neighboring countries which results in higher competitive cost of manufacturing. Indian plastic manufacturing
units process 200 tons of plastic per annum which is approximately 55%, 33%, 13% and 11% compared to China, Canada,
USA and Germany respectively (CRISIL, 2007). The economic issues are fluctuating crude oil prices, higher cost of
production for end user, SSI reservation which locked economies of scale in plastic manufacturing. India has 31% build-up
in raw material cost due to indirect taxes, it loose out on account of lower labor productivity and obsolete machinery and
higher power cost. The plastic processing industry faces intense competition from lower wage economies and an alarming
64 Chandrahas D. Golghate & Maruti S. Pawar

rise in energy prices (euRECIPE, 2006). It is also pertinent from comparisons made between China and India on account
of manufacturing capabilities and competitive advantages for plastic manufacturing industry i.e. there is 53% excess in raw
material cost, 227% excess in wages and 131% increased energy use by Indian plastic film manufacturers compared to
Chinese counterpart (CRISIL, 2007). The environmental issues are mainly attached with flexible packaging plastic.
Customer pressure is resulting in banning this versatile material in production and use.

It could be seen that, plastic manufacturing industry loose out at every front. It is required to optimize energy use,
raw material consumption and productivity, while blown film extrusion process is considered. The efforts of improvement
will benefit approximately 25000 plastic processor and 7360 recyclers as unorganized players in plastic manufacturing
industry (Mandal, 2011). In view of this, literature is reviewed in next section for industry wide blown film extrusion
process practices and best practices. Section 3 compares the industry wide blown film extrusion practices with best
practices through benchmarking tools. Section 4 discusses the best practices for blown film manufacturing and lastly
conclusion is presented.

LITERATURE STUDY FOR STATUS OF PRESENT BLOWN FILM EXTRUSION PRACTICES

Blown Film Extrusion Process
Blown film extrusion is widely used process for manufacturing plastic films. Blown films are created by feeding
plastic pallets into the extruder through gravimetric hopper arrangement. Plastic pallets are melted and homogenized in the
extruder / cylinder.

The molten state homogenized mixture of plastic melt is achieved by screw and thermocouple heating
arrangement in the extruder / cylinder. Molten material is conveyed further by screw rotation and pumped through circular
blown film die. It is inflated and simultaneously cooled by rapidly moving air/water.

At frost line, bubble/circular blown film solidifies. The circular blown film is pulled upward and flattened using
collapsing frames. Further, it is drawn through nip rolls and over idler rolls to winder which pulls and winds the finished
rolls of films. The typical arrangement of blown film extrusion process is shown in figure01.
Adopting Best Practices in Blown Film Extrusion Process: Need of the Hour to Control Environmental Burdens 65

Figure01 depicts that whole process of blown film extrusion can be analyzed with distinctive and important units
as depicted in table01.

Table 1: Working of Blown Film Extrusion Machine

Units Components Purpose

Pallet
Material conditioner Feeding clean, non-contaminated pallets to the hopper by using filters, cyclones,
feeding
, handling equipment elutriators, transfer systems, storage silos, holding bins
unit
The resin pallets feed through automatic loader on the top of the hopper by
Hopper with loader, gravimetric feeding arrangements is melted by heat and pressure. The heating is
barrel, thermocouple achieved by thermocouple based electrical barrel heating arrangements. The
Extruder based heaters, rotating screw pushes the molten material forward. It also ensures compression,
unit rotating screw, melting and mixing of molten material. The screen pack ensures prevention of
screen changer, die backflow of molten material and constant flow of molten material to die. The die
adopter and base adopter guides the molten material from the barrel to the die. In multi-layer
extrusion more than one extruder is used.
The die land creates back pressure and decrease melt flow speed. The mandrel
Body, mandrel or
regulates die opening to control melt flow speed. The heaters control the
Die unit pin, heaters and die
temperature of melt. The bubble is taken out of the die by forcing melt and air
land
through it.
Bubble
Cooling air ring,
cooling Bubble is pulled upward by guided and solidified by cooling arrangement. The
bubble enclosures,
and bubble is divided into two parts viz below frost line and above frost line. Below
guides, irises,
stabilizing frost line bubble is still in molten state.
stabilizing cages
unit
Multi-deck
Bubble arrangement consist
take-off of guide bars, It flatten the bubble and guide further to winding unit
unit collapsing frames,
nip roll
Surface treater, guide
Film
rolls, feed rolls,
winding It inspects for any defect and wind the final film
optical inspection
unit
system, film winder
Source: Equistar Chemicals(2012a, b), Cantor(2006), Majumdar(2008), Jain(2012)

Blown Film Extrusion Process Variables

Blown film extrusion is tedious and complex process. The typical process variables are screw diameter, screw
speed rpm, barrel temperature, die diameter, die gap, bubble height, bubble perimeter, etc. The variables with its
approximate values are depicted in table 02.

The requisite mechanical properties at the end of the process are tensile strength, tear strength, shrinkage, haze
and gloss, etc. (Majumdar, 2008).

The open market intense cost competition and environmental drivers are compelling the optimization of these
process variables to maximize output and minimize material consumption and energy (InterTradeIreland (2006), Eco-
Energy (2007)). The material (fossil fuel) and energy relates to environment.
66 Chandrahas D. Golghate & Maruti S. Pawar

Table 2: Major Process Parameters for Blown Film Extrusion Process with Values

Major Stage Process Parameters Values (Approx)

Hopper throat (with respect to Screw dia) 1.5 times
Screw diameter (mm) 25 to 250

Extruder Screw L/D ratio (Screw dia) 20 to 50

Screw speed (rpm) 200

Barrel temperature (0C) 160 to 230

Die assembly Die gap (mm) 1.8 to 2.5

Bubble height ( ft) 50 (experimental data)

Perimeter (cm) 126

Frost line height (cm) 48

Collapsed film width (cm) 63

Bubble
Thickness (micrometer) 90

Diameter (mm) 80

Blown up ratio 5.01

11.65 (Experimental
Cooling time (sec)
data)
Specific output (Kg/Hr) 0.32
Output speed (cm/sec) 2.45

Pulling speed (cm/sec) 6.42

Winder
Thinning ratio 1.06

Output (Kg/Hr) 20

Specific power (A/ kg/hr) 2.35

Source: Cantor (2006), Christos (2006), Singh et al (2012), Shah and Rajaram (1997), Polyolefinas
Internationales (2011), Majumdar(2008), Equistar Chemicals(2012a,b)
Blown Film Extrusion Process Variable Outcomes

The typical cost structure in plastic processing is 70% raw material, 5-15% labor and 15 to 25% energy (Eco-
Energy, 2007). The raw material estimated losses at material handling, scrap rates, setups and purging were estimated at
1.5 – 3 % (Dombleton and Schwier (1992), Eco-Energy (2007), Shah and Rajaram (1997)). There is also material
degradation because of excessive heating and recycling (Eco-Energy (2007), Shah and Rajaram(1997)).

Down gauging is limited because of rules and regulations i.e. films to be produced above 50 micron and consumes
excess material in Indian scenario for same functionality (Wooster and Nuttall, 2007). The overall productivity of Indian
plastic film processing units is very less with capacity utilization of approximately 50 – 60 % (Shah and Rajaram (1997),
CRISIL (2007)).

In terms of energy consumption, major energy requirement for blown film extrusion process is the electricity to
drive the extruder screw motor. Significant energy is also used to drive cooling fan motors and lesser amount is required
for winder equipment as shown in figure02.
Adopting Best Practices in Blown Film Extrusion Process: Need of the Hour to Control Environmental Burdens 67

The schematic energy requirement for blown film extrusion process is shown in figure03.

LCA studies are conducted worldwide, which are prima facie source of average energy consumption in blown
film extrusion process. American plastic film manufacturers required energy in the range of 5.87 to 6.51 MJ for
manufacturing one kilogram of plastic films (PE Americas (2008), Life Cycle Services (2007).

Australian plastic film manufacturers require 10.2 to 10.5 MJ for processing one kilogram plastic film (Ross and
Evans, 2003). However, Indian plastic film processing consumes 11.4 to 31.42 MJ of energy for processing same plastic
films (Nayak and Swain (2002), Ghosh (2004)).

The Environmental Burdens Due to Blown Film Extrusion Process Variable Outcomes

The higher use of energy in processing is linked to the environmental pollution at energy generation. The research
proved that pollution due to energy generation in coal based systems is contributing approximately 40% in global warming
(Environmental Agency, 2011).

In Indian, electricity generation is 90% coal based (Mittal et al, 2012). Apart from global warming energy
generation also contributes for human health, eco-toxicity, acidification, eutrophication, photo-oxidant formation, ozone
layer depletion, etc (Bergerson and Lave, 2002).

Similarly, the waste of raw material contributes for biotic resource depletion since material is fossil fuel and
reaching to exhaustive level (Spath et al, 1999). The lower capacity utilization also reduces eco-efficiency of machine tools
and increase environmental related costs.
68 Chandrahas D. Golghate & Maruti S. Pawar

The Recent Developments across Film Manufacturing and its Implementation

There are many reasons for old practices adopted by film manufacturers in India. The main reasons are:

(a) Innovations in terms of recent research are not incorporated in practice. For instance, blend selector for heat
shrinkage packaging (Polyolefinas Internationales, 2011), instabilities and multiplicities in isothermal blown film extrusion
(Pirkle and Braatz, 2010), melt rheology analysis (Majumdar, 2008), effect of polymer processing additives (Neumann,
2007), tools for optimizing flexible packaging (Morris, 2011), innovative die design (Gupta, 2009), energy efficiency at
blown film extrusion process (Eco-Energy, 2007) are few among other research not incorporated in practices by Indian
plastic film manufacturers at large.

Large and medium scale Indian companies like Ess Dee Aluminium, Reliance Industries, Glory Polyfilms,
Venkateshwara, etc had adopted recent technologies like stack dies, internal bubble cooling, oscillating take-off, thickness
profile control, gravimetric blending and dosing.

In dies, inverted conical stack dies and universal co-ex dies are recently developed (Jain, 2012). The control of
internal bubble cooling is much improved by ultrasonic sensor system and bubble thickness is monitored by auto air ring
system (Jain, 2012).

(b) In many cases the instruments are locally made with refurbished items without standard design and fully
controlled by operators. For instance, heaters and electrical wiring connected with barrel are exposed without any casing is
usual sights in Indian plastic film processing units (Shah and Rajaram, 1997).

(c) The extruder cost is 5 to 10 times of annual net profit and thus it is difficult to replace industry wide.

There is huge gap between blown film extrusion processes practiced by large, medium, small and micro plastic
film companies in India.

The major factor is technology. However, each segment is following different production practices depending on
technical expertise and experience. It creates lot of technological independent difference.

The variable outcomes of such difference are varied energy consumption, material consumption, throughput and
product quality. Knowing the variation for extrusion process in various countries and plastic film manufacturing companies
classified according to size, there is variation in the performance outcomes.

Hence, to improve the performance in all aspects, benchmarking is done for best practices. Thus, next section
addresses methodology to tap these variable differences and reduce the variable gaps at practice level.

METHODOLOGY FOR FINALIZING THE BEST PRACTICES

Units of Analysis: Blown film extrusion process viz pallet feeding unit, extruder unit, die unit, bubble cooling and
stabilizing unit, bubble take-off unit and film winding unit.

Variables of Analysis: Material consumption and waste creation, energy consumption, process based product quality,
labor productivity and unwanted outputs (environmental).

Followed Steps:

• Each dependent variable is analyzed focusing independent process variables for its cause and effect using
‘fishbone diagram’.
Adopting Best Practices in Blown Film Extrusion Process: Need of the Hour to Control Environmental Burdens 69

• The commonality in process variables are identified and benchmarked for blown film extrusion process.

• Lastly, best practices are reviewed for each process variables to reduce precision gaps in independent variables
across the industry.

Boundaries of Work: The work excludes technology advancements, etc. for suitability of Indian plastic film
manufacturing.

IDENTIFICATION OF BEST PRACTICES

To have complete view of process, fishbone or cause and effect diagram is drawn to view the independent
variables and its sub variables affecting dependent variables. This resulted out in detailed view of complete process to
make succinct analysis and control it.

Fishbone Diagram of Blown Film Extrusion Process and its Analysis: The main dependent parameters for process
analysis are material and resource consumption, energy consumption, throughput, product quality and unwanted
environmental effects.

The horizontal main bone of fishbone diagram depicts blown film extrusion sub-processes. The main branches are
sub-process variables. The fishbone diagram is shown in figure 04.

It is seen from the critical analysis of ‘fishbone diagram’ that technology apart, process variables are purely
depending on practices followed at sub-process level. It is obvious that practices are experienced based and tailor made by
operator. The variation in process variables have direct relationship with practices followed at task level. It is also
conformed from the variation process outcome i.e. material consumption, energy consumption, throughput and product
quality. This variation is required to be minimized to encourage visible identification of technology related improvements
to be adopted. It requires adoption of best practices, its industry wide benchmarking to follow up.

Benchmarking Process Outcomes of Blown Film Extrusion Process: Best achievable industry wide goals are set as
benchmark for the processes. It is the highest performance with in the process capacity / capability which are plausibly
accepted. It could be the next competitor having higher performance and only one parameter set as benchmark.

Blown film extrusion process variables as set in the methodology are material consumption, energy consumption,
throughput and product quality. Material consumption is best measured with material productivity as a ratio of material
70 Chandrahas D. Golghate & Maruti S. Pawar

used in final product to total material input. It is factor of non-value adding material use or losses. For instance, in blown
film extrusion process material losses in material handling, conveying, feeding, extruding, down gauging, setup, purging,
etc. Indian industry accounts for almost 1.5 to 3 % of such losses. The material being fossil fuel it could be reduced to 0.5
% as benchmark by following best practices. Similarly, energy consumption variation is 5.87 to 31.42 MJ for processing
one kilogram of plastic films. Indian plastic processors are having 50 % capacity utilization with only 200 tons of annual
plastic processing turnover per unit. Comparing to China, Canada, USA and Germany, it is just 55%, 33%, 13% and 11%.
Thus it could be benchmarked at 400 tons of plastic processing by average plastic processing units with minimum capacity
utilization of 100%. Further, product quality should be benchmarked at aboriginal quality. The summary of benchmark for
variables is viewed in table03.

Table 3: Benchmark for Blown Film Extrusion Process Variables for Indian Plastic Film Manufacturers

Benchmarking Variables Existing Range Benchmark

Material consumption as process waste 1.5% to 3% settings
0.50%
Energy consumption 11.4MJ to 31.42MJ 5.87MJ
Capacity utilization 50 to 60% 100%
Annual average production 200 tons 400 tons

To achieve this benchmarks and minimum process outcomes variable variation, the process activities to achieve
best practices are detailed in next section.

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES TO ACHIEVE BEST PRACTICES IN BLOWN FILM EXTRUSION

PROCESS

The blown film extrusion process is divided in to six units viz pallet feeding unit, extruder unit, die unit, bubble
cooling and stabilizing unit, bubble take-off unit and film winding unit for description of activities to achieve best
practices. The activities are reviewed from the literature are guideline and will differ from the company set depending on
the technological capability. The activities are listed in table04 which after adoption will lead to best practices to achieve
benchmark targets.

Table 4: Summary of Activities to Achieve Best Practices for Blown Film Extrusion Process

Process Unit Sub-Unit and its Issues Activities to Achieve Best Practice
Material condition / handing: 1. Use of extensive system of filters, cyclones, elutriators, etc.
resin contamination 2. Roughen ( 600 to 700 RMS roughness by sand blasting or # 55 shot with 55 – 60
RH produced at 900 RMS roughness) the interior wall of piping system.
3. Eliminate long radius bends wherever possible.
Pallet Feeding Unit 4. Rotate transfer piping at 90O at periodic interval.
5. Periodic washing of material transfer / handling equipment.
6. Ensure that suction line is not lying on the ground when system is started.
7. Place air filters over hopper and bottom valves during unloading the pallets.
8. Purge the lines with air first and then with a small amount of product prior to
filling storage silos or bins.
Blending 1. Blending programs with designated practices to be adopted
Hopper 1. Hopper throat can be water cooled to prevent bridging over.
2. Optimize and control the water amount and temperature to obtain maximum
efficiency.
1. Water cooled the barrel and has as many as 12 helical grooves.
Extruder Unit 2. Extruder start up heating is done by electrical heaters.
Barrel 3. Use temperature controlling mechanism to regulate heater bands and cooling
devices or envisage the manual procedure. Barrel temperature is generally in the range
of 140 oC to 190 oC just in front of the hopper and about 220 oC near the screen pack.
1. Screw should be at least 24 times and preferably 28 to 30 times as long as its
diameter and properly designed
Screw
2. Monitor the temperature of screw between 25 oC to 80 oC by temperature
controller or manual methods.
Adopting Best Practices in Blown Film Extrusion Process: Need of the Hour to Control Environmental Burdens 71

Table 4:Contd.,
3. In case of sudden machine shutdown and minor bridging the adhering pellets can
be cleared by inserting a flinch rod made from the resin into the feed throat while the
screw is turning over slowly. If there is major bridging, then clean the extruder by
opening it.
4. More efficient melt separation screws with a barrier flight and mixing head can
be retrofitted for the extrusion of LDPE, HMW-LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE, HMW, HDPE
and blends, plus additives and reground material.
5. The speed of these drives should be regulated at 2% or less of base motor speed
with a 95% load change. Solid state DC power cabinets should be located where
temperatures do not exceed 100°F or they should be fitted with a filter and cooling
blower.
6. Surging can result, particularly when two or three zones are cooled
simultaneously. Proportional control is needed to eliminate shock cooling.
7. If MD gauge variation is suspected, the die and air ring rotation should be
stopped, a stub roll of film made and then cut open. At one point, the gauge should
then be checked down through the layers of film. Lay flat web width can be checked
at the same time. Non-contact thickness gauges will indicate MD gauge variation as
cyclic average changes.
1. The use of heavy screen pack can result in improved film quality.
2. Excessive pressure above normal pressure (2000 to 3000 psi) indicates that
Screen Pack screen pack needs to be changed.
3. Keep good records of when screen packs were changed and have operators
frequently refer to them.
Breaker plate 1. Breaker plate should be long enough to ensure that no melt will leak out.
1. Method of varying internal pressure and have powerful effect on melt
Pressure valve temperature. The pressure gauge should indicate pressure in the 70 to 350 kg/cm2
range.
1. Maintain the specified temperature in the adopter using automatic system or
Adopter
manual procedure.
1. Control the temperature of the die
2. Control flow uniformity through die.
3. Melt distribution can be improved by lengthening and/or increasing the number
of spiral grooves.
4. Die temperature should be same as melt temperature,
5. The die gap to be maintain between 0.5 to 3 mm
Die Unit 6. Use rotating dies to randomize transverse film gauge variation in the bubble.
7. Die must be cleaned and free from nicks, scratches, or other deformities.
8. Die must be leveled in all direction after the adopter has been tightly bolted.
9. Die must be plumped from the center of the nip roll for vertical centering.
10. Adjust the die at appropriate level by adjusting bolt.
11. Deposits should be cleaned from the top of the die with a brass shim stock inserted
between the die lands.
1. The blown up ratio is equal to 0.637 times the ratio of blown film width to die
diameter.
2. Ensure uniform air flow over the entire lip.
3. Once the process is started, first adjust the lay-flat width to the specified value.
The screw rotation speed shall be set to the predetermined speed and the amount of air
Air Rings to be introduced into the bubble shall be adjusted. Then the film thickness shall be
next step.
4. An air ring should be machined as precisely as the die and securely mounted
parallel and concentric to the top if the die. When a die is cleaned, the air ring should
also be cleaned of dirt carried in the cooling air. Blockage of the air ring causes gauge
bands. Some air rings are mounted slightly above the die face with an air gap between
the ring and the die, while others are placed on a flame retardant gasket directly on top
of the die with no air gap.
1. The recommended frost line height is 20 to 48 cm above die.
2. The inside diameter of the air ring is about 1.25 mm greater than the die
diameter.
3. Air passing through the air ring must be clean. Filters on the inlet of the system
must be cleaned or replaced frequently to keep the system trouble free.
Bubble Cooling and
4. The installation of 500-watt floodlights in the film line area helps make the frost
Stabilizing Unit
line fully visible to the operator. The lights should be mounted just above the usual
frost line height, at least 30 inches from the largest bubble blown and aimed down
through the frost line area towards the center of the bubble. The lights should be
turned on during start-up for die and air ring adjustment or frost line check during
production. The lights must be mounted carefully; if they are too close to the frost line
and bubble, their heat can result in gauge bands.
1. Film appearance should first be defined before being discussed. The term includes
Bubble Take-off Unit Blown film tower haze (clarity), gloss (reflectance) and general appearance (no imperfections in or on
the surface).
1. It should not vibrate from unequal air distribution or too high an air velocity.
2. It should support the bubble.
Guide bars
3. It should prevent the bubble from swaying by means of one or more pairs of
guide bars.
72 Chandrahas D. Golghate & Maruti S. Pawar

Table 4:Contd.,
4. The guide bars are generally set parallel or right angle to each other.
5. Gusset blades must be aligned.
1. Collapsing angle should be kept less than 11o.
2. Collapsing frames must be aligned.
3. The main nips must be centered over the die. The center of the die, bubble and
main nip rolls must be in alignment with one another.
4. Bubble stabilizer bars must be centered. Bubble stabilizer bars should be
Collapsing frames mounted so they can be adjusted symmetrically about the center line of the bubble.
1. Nip rolls must be leveled.
Nip rolls
2. The tension in the film should be kept to a minimum.
Width measurement 1. Optical sensors
Gauge measurement 1. Snap gauges, infrared technology
Oscillating haul-off 1. Oscillating at 360o to 720o. Eliminate need of rotating dies.
2. The corona discharge treatment equipment is made up of a high frequency
generator, an electrode, and a treater roll.
3. The wetting tension of PE film and PP film that have not been surface treated is
around 30 to 35 mN/m. The tension appropriate for printing on these kinds of film is
Film Winding Unit Surface treater said to be normally around 40 to 45 mN/m.
4. Treated film surface can be checked by measuring the wetting tension of the film
surface. The wetting tension is an indication of the wettability of a solid surface.
5. Normally, wetting tension of a film that is not surface treated is around 30 to 35
mN/m compared to a treated film which has 40 to 45mN/m.
Guide rolls 1. Rolls can have non-slip coatings.
Feed roll assembly 1. Maintain constant and controlled tension.
1. Surface winders are used when the diameter of the film roll exceeds 100 mm.
Film winders 2. Check web tensioning devices regularly.
1. Adding simple roll doffing equipment gives the operator greater control in
removing the roll of film from the winder and placing it intact on a pallet or in a
Web slitter carton.
General Instructions 1. Check the safety devices at place and operational.

2. Prepare accident prevention program.

Source: (Equistar (2012a, b), euRECIPE (2006), Cantor (2006), Eco-Energy (2007), Morris (2011 )

Table05 describes the startup and shut down instruction. Further, it details about procedure for cleaning of
extruder unit.

Table 5: Blown Film Extrusion Process Instructions

Sub-
ProcessUnit Unit Best Practice
1. Check the safety devices at place and operational.
2. Turn on the die heater first and allow it to heat for 30 to 60 minutes before turning on barrel heater. Set
temperature as 150 oC. Set the requisite processing temperature for each of the heating zone, once the temperature
of the die and barrel reaches 150 oC. Run machine additionally for 30 to 60 minute at idle condition.
3. Check for desired and correct resin in the feed hopper. Check the extruder screw speed is zero. Start the
extruder screw driver motor and increase its speed to the minimum. Carefully monitor melt pressure on the
adopter and die gauges. If the pressure rises suddenly, turn off the driver motor and allow the machine to soak for
an additional 15 to 30 minutes. Then repeat the procedure till screw rotate freely without squeaks, grumbling or
pressure surge. Increase the screw speed to a rate so a one or two “doughnut” drools on the die surface each
minute. Turn on the air ring blowers. Monitor the process and frequently remove the polymer “doughnut” from
the die, place them in non-flammable container or water bath to cool.
4. Continue the above purge procedure until the material coming out of the die appears to be 100% of the
desired resin. Turn the screw off and quickly remove any polymer that has accumulated on the die face. Clean the
die gap. Coat the top die surface with the thin layer of silicon grease to prevent die build up. Make sure that no
grease gets on the air ring or in the air flow channel.
5. Set the extruder screw speed pot to maintain a moderate output. For instance, 50 pph on 8” die and 150 pph
on 16” die. Turn on blower air to a moderate flow. Lift the “doughnut” slowly from the die and collect molten
polymer to form a bubble. Quickly remove the heavy doughnut from the top of the bubble and place it in cooling
container. Continue to lift the bubble slowly and press the film tail into the molten bubble, avoiding any
excessively thick accumulation of polymer. Start the upper nip roll at slow to moderate speed i. e. 20 – 30 fpm. Be
prepared to open the nip momentarily to pull the thick junction of the film tail with the new resin bubble through
Startup the nips.
Instructions
6. Adjust the input rate of bubble inflation air, as well as nip speed and extruder speed to maintain a uniform
bubble of about two miles in thickness while continuing the purge procedure. Once the bubble is formed
completely from the new resin and there is no evidence of gel or the previous resin, adjust output, line speed and
blown up ratio to the required levels.
7. Check the film’s gauge around the bubble to ensure uniformity and adjust the die as needed according to
manufacturer’s instructions. Once the film line has equilibrated at the desired condition, measure output and
record resin type.
Adopting Best Practices in Blown Film Extrusion Process: Need of the Hour to Control Environmental Burdens 73

Table 5: Contd.,
1. Plan ahead for shutdown and reduce the die block and die zone temperature to 150 oC about an hour before it
is planned to cool down the extruder.
2. Continue running extruder whistle monitoring adopter and die pressure carefully to approximately 6000 to
10000 psi. If pressures are too high, reduce it by lowering extruder screw speed simultaneously decreasing the line
Shutdown speed.
Instructions 3. Further reduce the screw speed to lower melt temperature faster. Once the temperature is below 150 oC,
replace the resin with well stabilized purge compound and slow the extruder to moderate output until the purge
has fully replaced the run resin in the melt exiting the die. Stop the extruder. Remove any die build up, recoat the
die surface with silicon grease and restart the extruder slowly to build a small bead of material, filling the die gap.
1. Let the extruder run with resin, without further feeding, until the screw can be seen when the hopper is
Cleaning the
uncovered. Do not let the screw run dry.
Extruder
2. Turn off all electricity and water.
3. Remove the air ring while the machine is still hot.
4. Disconnect electrical and water lines.
5. Loosen the hinge collar and remove the die.
6. Remove the barrel cover and the adopter from the barrel.
7. Remove the breaker plate with the screens from the adopter.
8. Push the screw forward with a rod from the back end of the barrel and remove it. Clean it as per OEM
instructions.
Source: (Equistar (2012a,b), euRECIPE (2006), Cantor (2006), Eco-Energy (2007), Morris (2011 )

Table 6: lists the prevention check list for blown film extrusion process.

Table 6: Blown Film Process Prevention Checklist

Resin, Additives and 1. Are the polyolefin resin and additives the right grades for the film being extruded?
Regrind
2. Are the quantities sufficient to complete the run?
3. Are the resin loading system filters clean or have they recently been replaced?
4. Were the additives feeders emptied and cleaned when out of service to prevent dribble from contaminating the next
resin to be run?
5. Were the recycle/regrind systems for salvaging edge trim and roll scrap recently checked to make sure that the
proportion of scrap to virgin resin is accurate?
6. Are the scrap rolls of film compatible with the virgin pelletized resin being used?
7. Are all rolls of scrap clean and labeled by resin type?
8. Was the equipment cleaned between resin changes to prevent contamination?
9. Are all hoppers and boxes of resin covered, not only to prevent contamination of the resin, but also to prevent
possible damage to the extruder by tramp metal or other materials?
1. Most extruders are equipped with some type of variable speed drive for consistent output control. Are all fluctuations
in revolutions per minute or power consumption, as indicated by the screw tachometer or drive ammeter, checked along
Extruder Drives with other causes for extruder surging?
2. Are all dirty air filters replaced? Otherwise, sensitive solid-state drive components can overheat and burn out.
3. Are the extruder transmissions and thrust bearings properly lubricated?
Extruder Heaters and 1. Are temperature controllers for each extruder zone checked for excessive temperature override or insufficient
Control heating?
2. Are the melt temperature and pressure indicators and the screw tachometer and drive ammeter — which all indicate
extruder operation stability — frequently monitored and maintained?
3. Are all heater bands and thermocouples around the extruder head, adapter and die checked for loose wires? Be sure
the power is off when a check is made.
4. Is the wiring for the heater bands correctly connected, e.g., not “in series” if “in parallel” is required or vice versa.
5. Are thermocouple leads correctly connected to their corresponding extruder zones? For example, the thermocouple
lead for zone 3 should not be connected to the temperature controller for zone 2.
6. Are all the heater bands for a specific extruder zone of the same size and watt density? Mixing different bands in the
same zones can cause cool areas or hot spots depending upon thermocouple location.
7. Are the die heater band terminals not aligned in a row? If they are aligned in a row, the resulting cool spot can create
a gauge band in the film.
8. Is the extruder regularly checked for loose thermocouples, burned-out heater sections and loose or broken wires?
Most of the time, these problems are not readily visible and finding them requires specific maintenance.
1. Is there a specific instrument that checks for overheating in the extruder drives?
Extruder Cooling
2. If the extruder is water-cooled, are the feed throats cool to the touch? Inefficient plumbing that does not force all of
the air out of the water cooled chambers of the feed throat can cause poor circulation and hot spots on the surface of the
feed throat. Resin can melt and stick to these hot surfaces, bridge and interrupt the resin feed to the extruder. The result
is a reduction in output, surging, or in time, the complete loss of feed and shutdown of the extruder.
3. Has the automatic barrel water cooling system been checked recently? This can be done by lowering the set point of
the barrel zone temperature controller for a moment, listening for the pumps to start and observing a temperature drop
on the instrument.

4. If air is used in automatic barrel cooling, has the blower exhaust been checked for hot air output?
74 Chandrahas D. Golghate & Maruti S. Pawar

Table 6: Contd.,
5. If water cooling is used on the screw, are both the incoming and outgoing water flows at the correct temperatures?
Cooling water is normally fed through a siphon tube to the end of the screw. The outgoing water modifies the
temperature of incoming water before it reaches the end of the screw. Otherwise, if the incoming water were too cold, it
could freeze the melt.
6. Is the water flow in both feed throat and screw cooling areas controlled on the output side only? Control on the input
side can lead to cyclic heating and cooling, caused by the periodic displacement of water with steam (water hammering
effect), leading to surging.
7. Are all the extruder water systems filtered and are all the filters checked regularly?
Rotator, Die and Air 1. Is a record kept of screens used and date installed?
Ring
2. Is the pressure gauge at the end of the barrel checked often? A high pressure indicates a filled screen. A low pressure
indicates a blow-out.
3. Are the die and air ring level and parallel to each other, with the air ring concentric with the die orifice?
4. If the air ring is raised above the die face, is there any dirt between the die face and the bottom of the ring? Dirt in
this area can interrupt the air flow of melt and cause gauge bands in the film.
5. Is there any dirt or contamination on the lips and venturi tube of the air ring? Die lips should be regularly cleaned
with brass shim stock or knitted copper cleaner pads.
6. If die and/or air ring rotator drives are in use, are the commutator rings and brushes required for full rotation
regularly cleaned?
7. Are the power and thermocouple wiring checked for freedom of movement and any scuffing, if rotating systems are
in use?
8. Is the air hose used to inflate the bubble removed before die rotation begins?
1. Is the bubble symmetrical around a plumb line dropped from the center of the main nips to the center of the die? This
Tower and Line symmetry is essential for wrinkle-free film.
2. Are the collapsing frames symmetrical with each other and the tops aligned with the main nip rolls?
If not, the collapsing film can be distorted as it enters the nip rolls, resulting in continuous or intermittent wrinkles on
one or both edges, depending upon the misalignment. Also, too large a gap between the top of the collapsing frame and
the bottom of the nip rolls allows the collapsed bubble to partially reinflate and cause edge and/or full “smile” wrinkles
across the width of the film.
3. Is gussetting equipment easily adjustable? Does it have a locking finish to provide a relatively friction-free surface
for the film to slide upon? Film tends to cling to a brightly finished metal surface.
4. Do the metal surfaces of equipment have a matte finish to provide a relatively friction-free surface for the film to
slide upon? Film tends to cling to a brightly finished metal surface.
5. Are the collapsing frames clean and smooth with no sticky coating, dirt or dust? If the nip rolls are steel and rubber, it
is preferable to part the film from the smooth dry surface of the steel roll rather than from the rougher rubber surface
which can become tacky and induce MD wrinkles. All rolls should be clean and dry (not sticky) and all idler rolls
should turn freely.
6. Are nip roll and other line drives checked for speed adjustment?
7. Are the variable speed nip and line drives individually controlled? This situation is difficult for an operator to
synchronize and can cause excessive scrap when the downstream nip is permitted to overdrive the primary nip.
8. On lines equipped with drives that depend on the main nip roll drive as a master speed reference for all downstream
nip roll (and equipment) drives, is the main nip roll overdriven by excessive web tension (trim pots turned up to high on
downstream drives)? This excessive tension can result in the loss of line speed control, excessive speed hunting in the
line and a large amount of off-size scrap film.
9. Is the blown film tower stable with no vibration or sway?
10. Is the tower isolated from drafts?
11. Are any slightly diagonal MD wrinkles or web wandered visible? Although it is usually beyond the ability of an
operator to tram (align) rolls in a tower, these defects can result in misaligned rolls.
12. Are treater bars properly gapped and parallel with the treater rolls? The dielectric covering of the roll must be free
of punctures and the roll grounded back to the treater through a carbon brush to the shaft.
13. Are in-line embossing, slip-sealing, reinflating and post gusseting, printing and bag making equipment checked
regularly according to prescribed procedures?
14. Are winder drive and tension controls checked and the winder set to accommodate the core sizes and widths for the
product to be run?
15. Finally, are roll doffing equipment, cores and packaging supplies readily available?

Source: (Equistar (2012a,b), euRECIPE (2006), Cantor (2006), Eco-Energy (2007), Morris (2011 )

Table 07 lists the defects in blown film extrusion process as a measure of caution.

Table 7: Defects in Blown Film Extrusion Process

Film Defects Roll Defects

Low yield Gauge bands
Gauge bands TD Non-uniform surface hardness
Variable MD gauge Convex face
Adopting Best Practices in Blown Film Extrusion Process: Need of the Hour to Control Environmental Burdens 75

Table -7:Contd.,
Flatness Concave face
Camber Tapered through length
Wrinkles Wrinkles
Variable width Corrugated ends
Uneven gussets Fuzzy ends
Fuzzy ends Telescoping
Blocking Blocking, wound with too much
Treatment levels tension
Crushed edges
Splittiness - MD film strength Roll end color
Splittiness - edge creases Scuff marks
Splittiness - Die and weld lines Core ends – Protruding, buried
Splittiness - Scratches) Splices
Appearance - Gloss Weight
Appearance - Clarity Diameter
Appearance - Color Roll to roll uniformity
Imperfections - Applesauce Identification – missing roll
Imperfections - Gels labels
Treated surfaces
Imperfections -Arrowheads Wound wrong side outs
Imperfections- Air ring chatter Incorrectly identified, not
Blocking -Very high gloss identified
Damaged edges
Blocking - incorrect additive Incorrect additives levels
levels (Equistar (2012a,b), euRECIPE (2006), Cantor (2006), Eco-Energy (2007), Morris (2011)
Source:

Adopting these activities leading to best practices for blown film extrusion process will lead to reduction in
environmental burdens.

CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions are drawn from the present study:

• The material consumption, energy consumption, throughput / turnover and product quality are major factors for
competitiveness for Indian plastic film manufacturing units.

• Industry wide, there is large variation in performance outcomes measured in terms of above factors. It is also
confirmed by benchmarking analysis done in the study.

• The cause and effect analysis done for blown film extrusion process through ‘fishbone diagram’ reveals that
technology apart, production processes practiced at company level are main factors.

• The setting of benchmarking to improve practices is difficult in Indian scenario. However, if it could be set to
average levels, it results in competitive outcomes. Thus, the study results in benchmarking targets for this industry
for above factors.

• The major outcome of the study is the confirmation of need for practicing best practices by this industry.

• The environmental burdens will reduce by adopting the activities leading to best practices. In view of this, best
practices for blown film extrusion processes are reviewed and listed.

The best practices are general in nature and while adopting naïve process should be considered by the adopting
unit. Company level best practices could be developed and practiced to achieve benchmark targets in future.
76 Chandrahas D. Golghate & Maruti S. Pawar

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